What the heck happened on the shores of Lake Michigan on Friday night?

This was one of the strangest matches we can remember.

Duke struggled offensively for much of the game and trailed 13-10 in the fourth quarter. Todd Pelino had a chance to tie it but missed a 33-yard field goal attempt with 6:30 left.

He had a chance to make amends with 1:46 remaining with a successful attempt of 51 yards. Northwestern could not score before the end of regulation and so the game went into overtime.

In the first OT, the Wildcats scored a TD on a 10-yard run by Cam Porter. Duke responded with a one-play touchdown strike on a pass from Maalik Murphy to Jordan Moore.

In the second overtime, Murphy found Moore again, but Duke missed the two-point conversion. Northwestern failed to score on a six-play drive and Duke won 26-20 for its sixth straight victory over the Wildcats.

The game was played at Martin Stadium, which sits right on the shore of Lake Michigan. The stadium only seats 15,000 and was quite windy. Not your average D-1 environment.

Also unusual: In the third quarter, a rabbit came onto the field and was chased off by Willie the Wildcat, Northwestern’s mascot. Some considered it the funniest part of the game, at least before overtime.

All in all, it was just a weird environment. This is a little weird, but still cool: With the win, Duke stays ahead of 0-2 Florida State and 0-1 Clemson in the ACC standings.